According to the new facts of the forest department, the total forest area of Wayanad district is 1138 square kilometers. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kottiur Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad North Division, Wayanad South Division, and Kannur Division also come under the Wayanad Forest Department.
Wayanad: Wayanad is the district with the highest number of human conflict reports in Kerala. This is the only district that shares the borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu simultaneously. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in these conflicts, leading to accusations that the negligence of the forest department is to blame for the escalation. However, the forest department claims that the reason for the increase in conflicts these days is the arrival of animals including elephants from the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which have deciduous forests in summer.
At the same time, it was argued that the wild animal figures of the forest department were wrong. In response to this, the forest department has come forward to clarify the number of tigers in Wayanad district. The forest department has now released these numbers of tigers through the Facebook page of the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department. According to the new facts of the forest department, the total forest area of Wayanad district is 1138 square kilometers. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kottiur Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad North Division, Wayanad South Division, and Kannur Division also come under the Wayanad Forest Department.
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority's projections for 2022, there are 80 tigers in the Wayanad area. According to the website of the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department in 2023, the total number of tigers in the Wayanad landscape is 84. That is, 80 tigers were registered in 2022, but only 4 tigers were added by the Kerala Forest Department by 2023. At the same time, the Forest Department reports that six tigers had been captured and translocated from the territory owing to human-wildlife conflict. According to the forest department's data, three tigers have perished since April 2023.